1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatuses and devices for inserting tags into, on to, or in communication with flats, trays, pots, or any other apparatus or device used for holding, storing or growing horticultural plants (hereinafter referred to simply as "plant containers"). More particularly, the present invention is directed to an apparatus for automatically inserting tags into, on to, or in communication with plant containers wherein the apparatus is capable of taking possession of a tag withdrawn from a reservoir stack thereof and automatically properly position it with respect to the container.
2. Description of the Related Art
Identification labels are widely used in the nursery and greenhouse industries in order to identify plants contained in a plant container such as a flat, pot, cup or tray. Typically, an identification tag or label is formed from a sheet of thin plastic, which may be ornately or oddly cut or shaped, and generally includes a flag portion extending from a spike portion. The flag portion typically supports plant information such as the plant name, preferred growing conditions, a picture of a plant, etc. and the spike portion is provided to be inserted into the soil of the plant container or structure thereof.
The manual insertion of tags into soil filled plant containers is typically considered a tedious, time consuming job. There are several known apparatuses which are capable of inserting tags into the soil of a plant container and as such comprise the art to which the present invention relates.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,556 granted to Schmidt et al. on Mar. 11, 1986 is directed to a label inserting apparatus. The Schmidt et al. apparatus is a device for automatically inserting identification labels in plant containers. The Schmidt et al. device comprises a conveying track for conveying the containers along a predetermined path, a horizontal label storage magazine positioned above the path for holding the labels in a stack, and an insertion mechanism mounted transversely to the outer end of the storage magazine. The insertion mechanism has a vertically reciprocal slide member abutting the outermost label in the label stack. The slide includes a gripping means for gripping the outermost label only and driving it outwardly into a plant container. A control means is provided for causing the labels to be inserted in each plant container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,579 granted to Harrison et al. on Aug. 14, 1990, is directed to a computer-operated, automatic, seedling plant, transplanting machine. U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,820 granted to Harrison Jr. on Mar. 5, 1991, is directed to a tagging machine for seedling transplants. The '579 and '820 patents are related. The '820 patent is a continuation in part of the application which matured into the '579 patent. The tagging portion of the Harrison patents (hereinafter referred to simply as the "Harrison tagger") can be described as an automatic tagging machine where the tags are stacked and retained in individual, vertically extending magazines in the transversely spaced apart array.
As a conveyor indexes a tray having a plurality of plant receiving cells oriented in an array, a tag-picker arm carrying a plurality of elastomeric suction cups picks a tag from the tag magazine and inserts it into the soil-filled cell of the planting tray. The picker arms and suction cups are driven by a common rotary displacement mechanism. The picker arms are constrained to a central rod which pivots through approximately 90 degrees of rotary displacement. The central rod to which the picker arms are attached and constrained also moves upward and down whereby the tags that are extracted from the magazine by the suction cups are rotated to position the spike portion in a downward orientation and the central rod drives them into the soil of the plant container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,666 granted to Hamilton on Mar. 1, 1994, is directed to an apparatus for applying label tags. The Hamilton apparatus can be generally described as a tagging machine capable of automatically inserting label-type tags into selected compartments of a seedling tray as this tray passes under the tagging machine. A cartridge loaded with tags feeds the tags one-by-one to a breach channel. A pair of extractor fingers lifts the tag in the breach channel onto a deflector which deflects the emerging end of the tag between a pair of displacement fingers. Once the displacement fingers have received the tag, they drive the tag back along the channel in the opposite direction to discharge the tag into the seedling tray. As the tag is moved in the tag insertion direction toward the seedling tray and is discharged from the channel the extractor fingers are moved out of the channel to enable the tag to pass by. The fingers are only brought back into the channel to lift the next tag when the displacement fingers return to their tag receding position.
A common problem not addressed by any aforementioned devices is the inability of a tagging machine to operate "on the fly." "On-the-fly" tagging refers to positioning the tagging machine or tagging device in the path of a conveyor shuttling the plant containers and tagging while the containers continuously move. The aforementioned devices and apparatuses comprising the art to which the invention relates require the plant container to be momentarily stopped and indexed into a tag receiving position, wait for the tag to be placed into the container and only then index to the next container cell. Accordingly, since time is of the essence in the growing industry because of the limited window in which plants need to move from the field or greenhouse into the retail market place, a consistent apparatus for tagging "on the fly" without the necessity of stopping and restarting the tagging operation would be highly advantageous.
Yet another drawback of the known tagging machines is the "whipping" of the spike portion of the tag and the deformation of the plastic tag generally, when it is removed from the tag reservoir and held immediately prior to its placement with respect to the plant container. All of the known tagging machines comprising the art to which the invention relates include an elastomeric suction cup for grasping the tag. The vacuum pressure of the suction cup has a tendency to bend the tag from its normal planar state to a slightly "C" shaped configuration. This bending or "bowing" and the associated whipping of the spike portion of the tag when it is withdrawn from the tag reservoir is known to cause the tag to be misplaced or misaligned during placement. In some instances the bent and whipping tag is not able to be placed at all.
As mentioned, tag bending is caused by the vacuum pressure generated within the confines of the suction cup. The rim of the suction cup, therefore, forms a gasket like seal on the tag to enable the vacuum pressure to hold it in place before tagging, which causes the generally pliant tag to be pulled slightly down into the suction cup well. It is at this time that the tag bends in an attempt to form a "C" shape prior to its placement in to the plant container.
Still further, the known tagging machines comprising the art to which the invention relates cannot be considered modular to enable the tag placing portion of the device to be positioned in the path of the plant container, off to one side of the moving plant container path, or both. It should be noted that there are a great number of different plant container geometries being used in the nursery and greenhouse industries and thus versatility in tag placement is necessary to accommodate the variety of containers. For example, the tagging machines comprising the art to which the invention relates do not allow for tagging from the side of the plant container tray because of the need for a support rod for carrying the tag picker arms spaced apart along the support rod. The support rod rotates and undergoes a vertical up and down displacement whereby the picker arms attached thereto experience the same displacement to place the tags. Thus, the restricted vertical movement prevents such a machine from tagging from the side (i.e., parallel to the path of travel) while tagging front or back (ie., perpendicular to the path of travel). Furthermore, the restricted vertical movement of the machines comprising the art to which the invention relates totally prohibits "tagging on the fly" as will be described above and below with respect to the inventive apparatus.
Accordingly, until now, a modular tagging machine capable of taking possession of a plastic tag having a flag end opposite a spiked end and minimize the bending and whipping of the tag while positioning the tag in either the front, back or side of the plant container, and "on the fly" without the need to index the plant container or jog the tagging conveyor to discrete positions by a stopping and starting motion has not been invented.